Hello everyone. I am a professional and a mother of five. Two are from a previous marriage, two from my husband's previous marriage and one that we have had together. I was a teacher and now became a counselor for an elementary school.  I have a Masters degree in counseling and am working on my second Masters in Education.  My husband and I do not receive any support from our previous spouses and we want to provide a nice Christmas to our children. Our credit has gone down because of me having to take a year off from work because of our child being diagnosed with a kidney that was not functioning properly. My husband did the best he could and would do it all again if I had to. Yes, my credit score could be better, but I have learned from the mistakes and am ready to tackle the battle that is in front of us. This loan can be paid off quickly, but if I am told that the longer I have it, the better it is for me, then I am alright with that. Combined my husband and I make we would be able to pay this back. We just need to get over this rut. My current break out consists of:

TAKE HOME:$3,400.00 ME + $2250.00 SPOUSE

MORTGAGE:                $1,600.00
CAR NOTE:                   $632.00
ELECTRICITY:               $300.00
WATER:                       $50.00
GAS:                            $50.00
PHONE:                        $75.00
TARGET:                      $20.00
FIRST PREMIER:          $20.00
CONNS:                        $32.00
CELL:                           $130.00
HUSBANDS CAR          $400.00
CABLE                         $130.00
FURNITURE LOAN        $130.00
GROCERIES                 $600.00
CAR INSURANCE          $100.00
INCIDENTALS               $300.00  

With what we have to pay, we would have around $1,000.00 left a month. I just switched jobs from teaching to counseling and in the process also switched districts.  I did not get paid for about a month and now am playing catch up with my bills.  My husband will be getting a raise in January since he works for the government and I also will be getting a raise sometime next year because educators receive a yearly pay increase for tenure. Again, this is for Christmas and I have had some struggles and learned from them. Thank you.